


Flowers Bloom at Different Times

by potatwoo



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drinking, Lots of Kissing tbh, M/M, Sexual Content, and lots of laughing, definitely lots of flirting, i love seventeen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:12:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7656919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potatwoo/pseuds/potatwoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Seungkwan hold a housewarming party that happens to fall on the weekend after Mingyu nearly dies due to experiencing his most stressful academic week to date. Mingyu goes to the housewarming party determined to get a drink or two into his system as a symbolic gesture of sorts for reaching the end of Hell Week, and he does.</p><p>But Mingyu also meets Jeon Wonwoo at the party, who may as well be called Jeon WonWOW because he is quite possibly the most attractive human being on the planet, and they get to know each other in more ways than one. </p><p>(Soonyoung says there are sparks flying; Seokmin says it's the wedding bells. But then again, they say a lot of things.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start

Mingyu wouldn’t say that he’s always down to go party and drink to his heart’s content, but after a hectic week of essays, research papers, and quizzes, taking a shot (or ten) of vodka with his friends to celebrate the end of what felt like an endless cycle of stress was a rather tempting offer. And Mingyu thought that his friends’ house-warming party fell on the best possible weekend to take up on the opportunity to let loose for a few hours.

After knocking three times on the front door to his friends’ house, Mingyu was greeted by an overly-enthusiastic Seungkwan.

“Hey, welcome! Come in, come in!”

Seungkwan was one of the three residents of the house and the only first year living there, an arrangement that was a given for him even before he started college because he had been close high school friends with Seokmin, another resident and a second year just like Mingyu. What Mingyu enjoyed most about university was that grade levels weren’t such a significant barrier for friendship compared to the unspoken social hierarchy of high school that he experienced, and, as a result, Mingyu was able to meet some of the greatest people ever from different school years, with most--if not all--of whom were attending the house-warming party that evening.

“Sup, guys!” Mingyu greeted to no one in particular since everyone was scattered around the house, but he easily got the attention of a good chunk of the guests, who just as enthusiastically returned the greeting before bringing their attention back to whatever activities they were doing beforehand.

Mingyu saw that those in the living room were playing video games or board games, those in the kitchen were chattering and serving themselves some of the food laid out on the counter, and those in the back patio (where Seungkwan disappeared to after letting Mingyu in) were singing karaoke. The party had only started about half an hour ago, so things were still pretty tame and laid back. But Mingyu knew his friends well enough to know that it wasn’t going to be too long until the party’s atmosphere would be turnt up a notch. 

Mingyu left his shoes with all the others by the door and decided to watch the game of Smash that was going on. He got himself comfortable on the armrest next to Jisoo, who Mingyu never heard scream so much profanities in one sitting until that very moment, when Hansol ended the older’s character in the game.

“Dude, are you okay?” Mingyu asked Jisoo with half concern and half amusement.

Jisoo, with a smile so fake that a newborn baby could sense the fakeness, stood up and dropped the Wii controller on the couch next to a now-laughing Hansol, who was still playing against Minghao but being attentive to the Jisoo. “I’m fine, I’m very fine,” Jisoo assured, though clearly distraught, before saying, “I’m gonna get some soda.”

“Can you get me one, please?” Hansol said, “Because you know, I’m a bit busy playing Smash and all.”

Mingyu laughed at Hansol’s comment while Jisoo flipped the youngest of the three off. “Fuck you, Hansol.” 

As Jisoo walked to the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by just two stair steps and a long island, Seokmin arrived downstairs and saw Mingyu for the first time that evening.

“Mingyu, hey!” Seokmin said, walking to where the younger was still seated on the armrest and pulling him for a bro-hug. “What’s up? How was your Hell Week? Was it really hell?”

“Hell yeah, it was hell,” Mingyu replied, the expression on his face going sour. He genuinely felt like he’d get a migraine if he thought about his week any longer. Seokmin laughed and playfully messed Mingyu’s hair, a gesture that he knew full well was a pet peeve of the younger’s, who was admittedly very conscious of his dark-brown locks. Mingyu patted his hair back to place while maintaining the disgruntled expression on his face, eyes staring straight at Seokmin. “I hate you.”

“You don’t mean it, my lovely old roommate,” Seokmin smiled, and Mingyu knew he didn’t, but he wasn’t going to give the older the satisfaction of hearing him agree. Before Mingyu could give a snarky response to that, Seokmin called for Soonyoung, the third resident of the house and Seokmin’s boyfriend as of last week (though they’ve practically been attached to each other since Seokmin’s first quarter at university).

“Soonyoung-ah!”

Soonyoung, who was at the kitchen and just about to stuff his face with a large piece of fried chicken, paused halfway into raising the food to his mouth and looked Seokmin’s direction with a rather stunned expression. Mingyu almost gagged upon catching a glimpse of the lovestruck expression that flashed across Seokmin’s face when they made eye contact. “Yeah?”

“Is everyone here?”

“No, we’re still waiting for Wonwoo.”

Mingyu’s head tilted at the unfamiliar name (and he may have briefly wondered if anyone’s ever called the unfamiliar person ‘Won _wow_ ’), but before he could ask who that was, the doorbell rang as if it were on cue.

“That must be him!” Soonyoung placed his plate down on the counter, slapping Junhui’s hand away when the other attempted to take some of his food, and practically darted for the front door.

The second Soonyoung opened the door, the resident and the new guest cheerfully greeted each other by simultaneously yelling “O SHIT WADDUP!” before pulling each other for a hug. Because Soonyoung’s back was blocking the view of the guest, the only impression Mingyu got of the person at that moment was _did Soonyoung and he just use a meme to greet each other?_

That is until Soonyoung moved aside so that the latter was in full view of everyone, who stopped doing whatever they were doing after a piqued interest in the new person.

“Everyone, this is Jeon Wonwoo,” Soonyoung said, briefly pulling a red carpet Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith on Wonwoo before gaining back his posture. “He’s my high school best friend who just transferred to our university this school year.”

What Soonyoung said almost came in one of Mingyu’s ears and out the next because Mingyu was too busy internally gawking at Wonwoo because _holy shit who is this Wonwoo guy and why is he handsome as fuck._

Wonwoo stood just a few centimeters taller than Soonyoung, and his medium-brown hair was styled so that his fringe did not fall on his forehead. He had on a striped shirt underneath a blue flight jacket (an article of clothing that Mingyu always found attractive), and Mingyu would be lying if he said he didn’t feel his cheeks warm up even the tiniest bit when he realized that Wonwoo’s jeans were ripped at the knees and part of his thigh. And to top it off, Wonwoo wore a cute pair of round glasses that easily balanced his rather hot (for Mingyu’s lack of a better, more sophisticated word) appearance.

“If you ever need some embarrassing high school Soonyoung stories for blackmail, I’m your guy,” Wonwoo joked, which elicited laughter from the guys, including Mingyu himself. But Mingyu only managed to let out an airy chuckle, the corner of his lip turned upward in the slightest bit, because his mind was still primarily trying to wrap itself around Wonwoo’s otherworldly appearance.

Upon realizing that he was getting a little too awestruck, Mingyu quickly but subtly shook his head as if that would clear his mind. Seokmin, who was still standing next to a seated Mingyu, glanced down at the latter with scrunched eyebrows and a hint of amusement. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Uh, there was a fly on me,” Mingyu lied, giving a thumbs up for reasons unknown.

Seokmin stared at the younger for a few seconds, as if he were trying to catch him in his lie, before saying, “Sounds fake, but okay.” At the comment, Mingyu retorted by nudging the back of Seokmin’s knee with the tip of his sock-covered toes, causing the older to stumble forward and gasp and subsequently shift the attention to himself.

To save face, Seokmin punched the air, saying, “Now that everyone’s here, let’s pop the bottle of champagne and get this party started for real!”

Loud cheers filled the air as everything going on in the house for the next minute or so felt like a blur of rapid movement. Music started to blast through the speakers and send everywhere the vibrating sensations coming from the bass. All types of drinks were taken out from the kitchen cabinets and under the sink and placed on top of the tiled counter as some of the guys started passing each other shot glasses and/or red cups.

As Mingyu walked over to the counter with his eyes on the prize of getting at least a shot into his system, he accidentally made eye contact with Wonwoo, who was a handful of people away from him but also walking towards the counter. They didn’t exactly smile at each other, but their eye contact turned into lingering stares that left Mingyu’s heart racing even after Seokmin disturbed their contact by popping the champagne. Seokmin then moved the bottle around to different angles so that the exploding drink would get pretty much everywhere.

Everyone’s cheers only got louder, and it was obvious at that point that all the guys were in a good mood that evening. After cheering along, Mingyu took a subtle glance back at Wonwoo, saw that the boy was now smiling at something Soonyoung was saying (and Mingyu could’ve sworn Soonyoung looked his direction), and felt like his heart could explode because Won _wow_ indeed.

Mingyu accepted the shot that Junhui offered him before deciding to strike up a conversation with Wonwoo when the latter was close enough to the counter. 

“Hey, Wonwoo!” Mingyu greeted, flashing a friendly smile at said person after the other took a shot of his own.

Wonwoo put down the shot glass and looked up at Mingyu. The boy seemed to have been caught off-guard by the sudden greeting, but he immediately returned the smile. “Hey…”

“Mingyu!”

“Mingyu! Hey, Mingyu!” Wonwoo said, letting out a soft laugh, and Mingyu couldn’t help but do the same. “I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten the chance to learn anyone’s names yet, except for Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Seungkwan of course.”

“Don’t sweat it, you’ve got the rest of the night to learn them,” Mingyu assured with a wave of a hand. “Do you go to house parties often?”

Wonwoo thought about that question for a second before responding. “Honestly, I’m more of a drink at home then go to bed type of person, but house parties are definitely fun to go to every now and then.”

Mingyu smiled at the comment because he found the other’s response quite interesting. “So you’re either drunk on your own or drunk with a lot of people?” He joked.

“Basically,” Wonwoo lightheartedly agreed. “And I’ve been that way since I stepped foot on university ground.” After the two laughed, there were a few seconds of silence as they watched whatever was going on around them. Before either of them could say anything their minds were formulating in order to continue the conversation, Soonyoung spoke up.

“Wonwoo-ah! Come over here!” The boy yelled from where he was gathered with a few other guys across the kitchen. Wonwoo and Mingyu looked over to Soonyoung. “Seungcheol doesn’t believe me when I say you’re the god of shotgunning!”

“Excuse me?” Wonwoo jokingly said aloud, as if he didn’t believe what he was hearing. By then, he was already walking over to where Soonyoung was, and Mingyu followed behind in curiosity. “Someone is actually questioning my abilities?”

“I gotta see it to believe it!” Seungcheol replied with a smile and an effort to provoke Wonwoo. Both his hands were holding a can of beer, and he extended one arm out to pass one of the cans to Wonwoo, who gladly accepted it.

“Well, keep your eyes opened for the next few seconds, then,” Wonwoo replied with a smirk, causing some of the guys including Mingyu to say oooh and Seungcheol to laugh. Once both guys’ cans had been punctured by Soonyoung’s apartment keys, they immediately began drinking.

As Wonwoo drank, Mingyu couldn’t help but watch as Wonwoo’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down on his elongated neck and felt his own mouth dry up. Without even turning to Seokmin, who was standing next to him, Mingyu grabbed the cup of wine the older was holding and took a big gulp of it before giving it back to him.

Living up to his rumoured title, Wonwoo finished before Seungcheol, which was a sight that Seungcheol’s friends hadn’t seen in awhile. Cheers were elicited once again, and even Seungcheol was impressed.

“Respect,” Seungcheol said, sharing a bro-hug with Wonwoo, who smiled in thanks. “Nice to meet you, by the way.”

“Likewise!”

Jeonghan, Junhui, and Jihoon, who were watching, joined Seungcheol in introducing themselves to Wonwoo. Mingyu, though he wanted to continue talking to Wonwoo, thought it was great that Wonwoo was getting along with the guys as if he had known them the whole time. So instead of staying by Wonwoo and waiting to jump in on the conversation going on, Mingyu decided to talk to Seokmin and Soonyoung instead and eat some chips that were conveniently in a bowl on the table next to his older friends.

About a minute later, when something behind Mingyu caught his attention, Seokmin cut short his spiel about how sea salt chips were the love of his life and suddenly said, “Dude, Wonwoo is so down!”

At the mention of Wonwoo, Mingyu turned around and saw that Wonwoo was about to start shotgunning again, but this time against Junhui. Before he realized he had spoken out loud, Mingyu asked, “Yeah, but is he single?”

“Wonwoo, are you single?” Soonyoung, who most likely already knew the answer, still asked Wonwoo the question out loud with no second to spare when the boy began drinking. _Oh boy_ , Mingyu’s mind thought, but his curiosity about the answer far outweighed the embarrassment of asking.

Mingyu watched Wonwoo give a thumbs up. When Wonwoo finished drinking the can and put it down, he asked, “Who’s asking?”

Mingyu was mentally preparing himself to hear Soonyoung say his name, to put him on blast, but he didn’t hear anything close to that. Instead, and Mingyu’s not sure if this was better or not, Mingyu heard Soonyoung say “the guy you think is hot” while pointing his thumb towards him.

Almost immediately Mingyu felt his cheeks warm up at the description, but he’d be lying if he said that knowing Wonwoo thought he was hot didn’t boost his confidence just a tiny bit. Mingyu then wondered if that was why Soonyoung looked his direction while Wonwoo was speaking to the older earlier.

“Wow, way to keep it lowkey,” Wonwoo said, giving Junhui a friendly hug before walking over to Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Mingyu. Soonyoung laughed as Wonwoo lightly shoved his shoulder before looking at Mingyu with a guilty smile. “Sorry for the lack of a more sophisticated term.”

“It’s okay, I may have thought the exact same thing about you,” Mingyu admitted, now a bit more willing to toss in a flirtatious comment. Wonwoo smiled at that comment, his cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink, and that was enough for Soonyoung and Seokmin to start cooing obnoxiously.

“OOOH, do you hear that, Seokmin?” Soonyoung asked, raising a hand to his ear. “Do you hear the sparks flying?”

Seokmin did the same gesture to himself. “No, I don’t, because all I hear are those darn wedding bells!” Mingyu didn’t hesitate to slap Seokmin’s shoulder, causing Seokmin to hiss in pain but also laugh out loud.

“We should leave them alone for now,” Soonyoung said, and Mingyu thought that was the greatest suggestion Soonyoung had ever made in the span of their friendship. The older boy then jumped onto his boyfriend’s back and pointed towards the living room. “To the game of beer pong, my love!”

When Soonyoung and Seokmin were gone, Mingyu and Wonwoo turned to look at each other, this time giving each other small smiles rather than the toothy grins shared earlier.

“It’s getting a bit stuffy here, want to go out?” Mingyu asked before he immediately (though unnecessarily) clarified, “Like outside, I mean, not out like have a romantic relationship or anything.” Mingyu wanted to slam his head on the nearest wall for his sudden rambling, but figured not to stress about the damage that has been made to the calm demeanor he kept up to this point.

Wonwoo chuckled at the clarification before nodding his head along with what now felt like an ever-present smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

Although some people, mostly those who weren’t fond of drinking, were using the karaoke machine outside and singing on and off tune, the patio was definitely a change of environment from the rowdy indoors. Mingyu took a seat on the couch by the firepit, and Wonwoo occupied the spot next to him close enough for their thighs to brush against each other. 

For the next hour or so, Mingyu and Wonwoo talked about anything and everything under the sun--or in this case, the moon. They shared many fits of laughter and very little moments of comfortable silence due to how effortless Mingyu felt it was for the two of them to find new things to talk about. One minute they’d be talking about trivial things like their favorite food, and the next they’d be talking about alien conspiracies and the meaning of life. And Mingyu loved every second of it. 

“So how did you become friends with Soonyoung?” Mingyu eventually asked, genuinely curious about their friendship.

Wonwoo softly laughed, as if he were fondly thinking back about that particular memory. “I actually met him while I was crying inside one of our school’s shitty restroom stalls,” he started to storytell, and Mingyu was all ears. “During our sophomore year, I was still in that stage in my life when I was questioning my sexuality--I’m gay, by the way--and, particularly on the day that I met Soonyoung, I was just very overwhelmed with all the confusing thoughts and feelings I was keeping to myself because I felt like I couldn’t speak to anyone about them. Soonyoung started knocking on the door of the stall I was in, and he said he wouldn’t stop knocking until I opened the door. So I did.

“And I got really nervous because I thought the first thing he asked would be ‘are you okay?’ or ‘what’s wrong?’ and I really didn’t know how I’d answer that. But I was so relieved and so grateful when he immediately tried to lighten the mood without questioning me and said, ‘I know, the school’s lunch today is really terrible. I’d be crying about it, too.’”

Mingyu smiled when he heard this part, because Soonyoung’s way of comforting people by telling jokes had stayed the same all these years. When he’s not being a piece of shit, Soonyoung was actually a really caring guy, Mingyu had to admit (though never in front of the older).

“His joke wasn’t even that funny, but I laughed, and he just became a really good friend to me by distracting me from destructive thoughts and making sure I genuinely smiled at least once a day. For the first month of being friends, he never knew or questioned why I was crying on the day we met, but he eventually became the first person I came out to and was my support system when I started coming out to everyone else.”

“Ah, I see,” Mingyu replied, feeling honored that Wonwoo was comfortable enough to tell him that story. “I guess Soonyoung does have a heart somewhere in that body of his.”

Wonwoo laughed at the joke. “It’s a surprise, I know,” he lightheartedly responded. “And sorry if my story got a little too deep for the moment or anything.”

“It’s okay,” Mingyu said, and hearing Wonwoo tell part of his coming out story only encouraged Mingyu to do the same. “I didn’t come out to anyone until last school year, but you know who the first person I told was?” Wonwoo tilted his head, waiting for the answer. “Soonyoung.”

Wonwoo widened his eyes, and Mingyu laughed at the older’s expression. “Shit, really?” Mingyu nodded, amused, and the surprise on Wonwoo’s face stayed in tact. “I guess there’s just something about that guy that makes it easy to come out to.”

Mingyu laughed once again upon hearing that comment before turning his head to watch the fire pit in front of them. “You know, I actually came out to Soonyoung on accident because he wouldn’t stop asking me why or how a ‘guy with a face like yours’--his words, not mine--was still single and not in a relationship with a girl yet. And because I was studying really hard for a midterm at the same time he was pestering me with all those questions, I absentmindedly replied that it was because I want to be in a relationship with a boy. But at that point, I was already starting to accept that I was gay, so I didn’t completely freak out when I realized I actually admitted my sexuality to someone else for the first time. To this day, though, I still hold close to my heart Soonyoung’s stunned expression.”

When Mingyu looked at Wonwoo, he expected to catch a glimpse of the other’s side profile. Instead, he caught Wonwoo staring at him, and when Wonwoo realized this, he simply flashed a smile. There was no frantic head-turning or embarrassment from getting caught, and that only made Mingyu’s stomach do a weird, butterfly-driven somersault as he smiled back at Wonwoo.

“So, for a guy with a face like yours, how are you still single?” Wonwoo decided to ask, resurrecting the question that Mingyu wasn’t sure he’s heard since he shut Soonyoung up last year. Mingyu chuckled and shrugged.

“I mean, I’ve had a few sexual encounters with no strings attached, but I just haven’t found anyone who I liked so much and who liked me at the same time to start a relationship with,” he replied before teasingly nudging Wonwoo’s closer arm with his own. “What about you? You’ve got quite a face as well.”

Wonwoo laughed. “Same answer as yours,” he said. “I’m pretty much the master of one-sided crushes.”

“Maybe that won’t be the case between us in the future,” Mingyu daringly replied with a smirk, and Wonwoo bit on his lower lip, trying to resist the huge smile that wanted to show itself.

“Maybe,” Wonwoo agreed as a tiny smirk let itself show. The two of them were still staring at each other, and the longer they stared, the more everything else around them seemed to grow increasingly distant.

Mingyu’s not sure who started leaning closer to the other, but soon enough their lips met for the softest kiss Mingyu had ever experienced in his life. The kiss went on for another minute, and Mingyu’s hands found their way to Wonwoo’s waist as the latter moved the upper half of his body closer to Mingyu, whose back was now pressed against the couch. 

One of Wonwoo’s hands were resting on Mingyu’s jawline while the other was placed on the base of Mingyu’s neck. His hands were nothing short of warm, and Mingyu felt himself leaning against the other’s touch.

When they pulled away from the kiss, there was barely an inch between their lips before they looked each other in the eyes that spoke volumes of emotion, closed their eyes, and connected their lips once again.

The knowledge that other people were in the patio was long forgotten until Mingyu heard Seungkwan scream about an unfair karaoke score and was snapped out of the moment he was sharing with Wonwoo, who was briefly dazed when he felt Mingyu pull away from the kiss. Not wanting the moment to end, but also not wanting to see how long they could go before one of the other guys noticed them, Mingyu leaned his forehead against Wonwoo’s and whispered, “Should we... continue… this inside?”

Wonwoo seemed to hesitate for a second, which Mingyu definitely noticed, but he nodded nevertheless. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Are you sure?” Mingyu asked, not wanting Wonwoo to feel pressured to do anything he didn’t want to do. “We can stop if you don’t--”

“No, no, I want to continue this,” Wonwoo replied, the hesitance from a few seconds ago nowhere to be found on his face that was now showing a reassuring toothy smile. He pecked Mingyu’s on the lips before getting up from the couch and sticking his hand out for Mingyu to hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I initially planned for this story to be a one-shot, but halfway into writing the story I realized this fic was much longer than I intended for it to be, so I decided to just split it up into different chapters lol. Just a heads up, Chapter 2 will most likely be the only chapter in this story that is filled with smut, so yeah that's a thing. This is also the first fic I am posting on this site so woohoooooo wassssup!!!


	2. Your Body Is A Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mingyu didn’t care about efficiency when his heart just felt so light and so content as Wonwoo and he continued to get to know each other better, whether it be through the words they exchanged or the way they explored every dip and curve of each other’s body as if they were works of art."

Mingyu stood up as well before intertwining his fingers with Wonwoo’s and leading them back into the house, their bodies close together. Mingyu was relieved that everyone inside was too preoccupied with other activities and drowning in loud music to notice them walk inside and to create a scene out of it.

They walked upstairs and, as far as Mingyu knew, the second floor turned out to be completely void of other people. Mingyu led Wonwoo to the furthest bedroom on the left, and opened the door with his free hand.

“Whose room is this?” Wonwoo asked as they stepped into the relatively clean bedroom, save for the large pile of laundry that was sitting at the corner. Mingyu closed and locked the door behind them.

“Seokmin’s,” Mingyu replied. “I chose his room for two reasons: one, he pretty much sleeps in Soonyoung’s room every night, and two, this is payback for when he hooked up with someone on my bed in our dorm last school year and didn’t tell me until a week later. I’m still bitter.”

“So are you going to tell him about this?” Wonwoo amusedly asked.

“Of course I am,” Mingyu half-jokingly said, standing in front of Wonwoo and placing his hands on the other’s waist once again, “and I’m even going to wash the bedsheets like the decent human being he wasn’t back then.” Mingyu wasn’t actually still mad about what Seokmin did, but he wasn’t going to let Seokmin live down that moment anytime soon.

Wonwoo laughed and wrapped his arms around Mingyu’s neck before initiating another kiss. It was their first kiss standing up, and Mingyu couldn’t help but laugh in the midst of kissing when he realized that Wonwoo had to tiptoe just for their lips to meet before Mingyu slightly bent down his head. 

“What?” Wonwoo asked, pulling away from the kiss and feigning annoyance.

“You’re cute,” Mingyu simply said with a silly grin in tact. Before he could see the expression on Wonwoo’s face, Mingyu began pulling him towards the full sized bed on the center of the room and was first to get on the bed. Wonwoo got on the bed as well before sitting on Mingyu’s lap and straddling his legs around the younger’s sides. “You’re really cute,” Mingyu said once more before he started to leave a trail of butterfly kisses from just below Wonwoo’s ear down to his collarbone, where he then made sure to leave a small mark.

Wonwoo groaned when he felt Mingyu nibble on his skin and started to aimlessly run his hands over the younger’s torso. Mingyu shivered when Wonwoo’s hands slipped inside his shirt, which caused Wonwoo to laugh softly at the effect he had on the other, who blushed. “You’re cute, too,” Wonwoo teasingly noted, to which Mingyu shyly laughed and leaned in for a kiss to distract himself from the warmth growing on his own cheeks.

For the next couple of minutes, the two were tangled in a mess of clothes being taken off in the least efficient way possible. Mingyu was pretty sure that they would have finished taking off their clothes in half the time if they hadn’t tried to make out at the same time and laugh every time an article of clothing got stuck in some sort of way, which was a lot. But Mingyu didn’t care about efficiency when his heart just felt so light and so content as Wonwoo and he continued to get to know each other better, whether it be through the words they exchanged or the way they explored every dip and curve of each other’s body as if they were works of art.

The two of them soon got under the blankets and rolled over so that Mingyu was now on top of Wonwoo and propping himself up with an arm. Their eyes met, and both of them had a silly grin on their face.

“Hi,” Mingyu lightheartedly said, his voice laced with a kind of giddiness he hadn’t felt in a while.

“Hello,” Wonwoo replied with the laugh that Mingyu was certain he would never get tired of before they started kissing once again.

Mingyu felt Wonwoo’s nether region gradually erect under his own and released a moan when he started to feel too many sensations at once. Wonwoo was nibbling on Mingyu’s lower lip at the same time his hands were wandering lower and lower until he stopped by the younger’s navel. At that moment, all Mingyu wanted was for Wonwoo to touch his throbbing dick but he knew that Wonwoo was trying to be a tease.

So instead, Mingyu took the initiative and brought down his own hand to guide Wonwoo’s hand to where he desired for it to be, and Wonwoo complied. When Wonwoo began to move his hand up and down his shaft, Mingyu moved on to do the same for Wonwoo’s hard member.

They changed their position and sat up as things got more heated, with Mingyu straddling his legs around Wonwoo this time around. Both of them buried their faces on the base of each other’s necks and panted harder and harder as their jerking motions lost its steady rhythm for a more frantic pace. Wonwoo began calling out Mingyu’s name, his voice raspy and struggling to coherently say the syllables.

“Fuck, your voice is so… Won _wow_ ,” Mingyu breathed, not knowing how he found it in himself to say that joke considering their current activity.

Wonwoo released a breathy laugh, which tickled Mingyu’s skin, managed to give him goosebumps, and send another wave of sensations across the younger’s abdomen. To tease Mingyu even more, Wonwoo moved his face away from the younger’s neck and leaned against his ear to seductively whisper, “Then come for me.”

And Mingyu did.

Mingyu’s and Wonwoo’s moans filled the air louder than ever before, with neither of them certain about which moan came from whose mouth. Mingyu thrusted against Wonwoo’s hand as he rode out his high seconds before Wonwoo reached his own climax. “Shit,” Mingyu groaned when he heard Wonwoo release the most wanton moan he’s ever heard. When Wonwoo finished Mingyu off, he immediately moved his hand over to his own dick to add to the friction that Mingyu was already providing while he came.

When Wonwoo started to calm down from his peak, they moved their hands away from his member and spent the next minute just catching their breath with their foreheads pressed against each other. But the two of them knew that their night together had only just begun, and soon enough they were preparing for another round.

“Do you want to go all the way this time?” Mingyu asked Wonwoo, who was now busy leaving a hickey on the side of the younger’s neck, just below his jaw. Mingyu felt the other nod against him, and so he briefly got off the bed to look for lube and a pack of condoms. It took about a minute of rummaging through a lot of Seokmin’s compartments before Mingyu found the items inside the first shelf of the clothes drawer near the door.

“Why are these so far from his bed?” Mingyu complained, walking back to where Wonwoo was laying down and watching the younger. “You’d think they’d be in the bedside drawer for easy access.”

“It’s easy access for when Seokmin’s about to leave his room for Soonyoung’s,” Wonwoo replied, amused by Mingyu’s random rant, and Mingyu reluctantly replied _touché_ before getting back on the bed and kissing Wonwoo.

The prepping time didn’t take as long as Mingyu expected it to be, not that he was displeased, and he was nothing short of overwhelmed by the warmth that consumed him when he finally got inside Wonwoo. Just like earlier, the pace started off slow and steady before Wonwoo started to bury his nails into Mingyu’s back, begging for the younger to go faster.

“What’s the magic word?” Mingyu teasingly asked, purposefully slowing down his pace, much to Wonwoo’s chagrin. The older let out a whine, and Mingyu chuckled.

“Mingyu, fuck… just… _PLEASE_ ,” Wonwoo cried, and Mingyu chuckled once more before granting the older’s wish and quickening the pace of his thrusts.

“The magic word was actually Won _wow_ , but we can try again next time,” Mingyu replied, and Wonwoo slapped his back at the now overused joke.

“I fucking hate you,” Wonwoo said, making the younger laugh some more, which only led Wonwoo to smile a bit himself before their attention went back to the present.

As Wonwoo got closer to his climax for the second time that evening, he tightly wrapped his legs around Mingyu’s lower back, subsequently pulling the younger’s body closer to him. Mingyu opened his eyes when he heard Wonwoo trying to hold back the volume of his moans and saw that the older was biting down onto his lower lip. Not taking any of that, though the sight was quite beautiful to take in, Mingyu raised a hand and gently moved Wonwoo’s lower lip just enough for it to slip away from the teeth pressing down on it. Wonwoo opened his own eyes when he felt Mingyu’s fingers, and he looked slightly confused until Mingyu kissed his lips and whispered, “Don’t hold back.”

Mingyu gave a tiny but encouraging smile at Wonwoo, who returned the smile before nodding his head. They closed their eyes once again before Wonwoo let out the loveliest string of breaths and whimpers and _oh Mingyu_ 's that the younger was convinced could become a soundtrack on its own. 

“How are you so perfect?” Mingyu groaned, hastening his thrusts on the same spot when Wonwoo let out a particularly loud moan. “So, so perfect.”

Wonwoo’s back arched as he came, and Mingyu followed him a second later. He didn’t stop thrusting until they both returned from their high. When Mingyu pulled out, he immediately took off the condom and tied it before tossing it into the nearby trash can. He then got a tissue from the bedside and started to clean Wonwoo and himself.

“Hey, Mingyu…” Wonwoo softly said as Mingyu was about to finish cleaning up.

“Hm?”

“Can I…” Wonwoo’s voice became even softer, as if he were too shy to continue his sentence. Mingyu patiently waited for Wonwoo to go on, not entirely sure what the older was meaning to say. “Can I… return the favor?”

Upon hearing that, the first thing Mingyu said without much thought was, “Aren’t you tired?” The offer definitely wasn’t something Mingyu wanted to reject, but he thought Wonwoo’s energy was more important at the moment.

“Kind of,” Wonwoo replied, “but I want to please you, too…”

“You’ve already pleased me more than you think,” Mingyu assured, gently pushing away the strands of hair that fell down onto Wonwoo's forehead due to the sweat. “You should get some rest.”

But Wonwoo stayed persistent. “Mingyu, you made me feel amazing… Let me do the same for you. Please?”

Mingyu and Wonwoo held a short staring contest, and when Mingyu realized that Wonwoo wasn’t going to back down any second, he caved in and smiled. Kissing Wonwoo’s lips, Mingyu put up a challenge and said, “Blow me away.”

Wonwoo smirked. 

And boy, was Mingyu blown away.

“Holy shit,” Mingyu panted after Wonwoo had finished his final thrusts. Unlike Mingyu, who had Wonwoo lay down and face him the whole time, Wonwoo tossed and turned Mingyu around so that at some points the younger was standing on all fours--sometimes burying his face onto the pillows when things got overwhelming--rather than only laying on the bed. The constant change of positions was something that Mingyu had rarely experienced, but the way Wonwoo handled him was enough for Mingyu to hope it won’t be the last time he’d do this with the older.

Once Wonwoo finished cleaning them off for the second time that evening and threw away the soiled items, he joined Mingyu in bed and gladly took up on Mingyu’s silent offer to cuddle with him. Wonwoo scooted as close as he can to Mingyu and threw an arm around the other’s torso. Their legs tangled with each other, and they spent the next minute or so in a comfortable silence. Mingyu paid special attention to the way Wonwoo was tracing random shapes on his torso and to the faint sound of their hearts beating at a simultaneous rhythm.

When someone began knocking on the door and trying to turn open the knob, Mingyu and Wonwoo looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Hello?” Seokmin loudly called, and Mingyu knew that the older was drunk at that point. “Who the fuck’s fucking in my room?”

Now, Mingyu knew he shouldn’t start laughing, knowing firsthand that it sucks to find out that people used your bed for sex, but he couldn’t help himself. At this, Wonwoo laughed softly as well.

“Yah, Seokmin!” Mingyu was sure Soonyoung was the one speaking, and he sounded just as drunk. “The volume of your voice is giving me a headache. Let’s just sleep in my room. Fuck.”

“At least use a condom!” Seokmin drunkenly yelled once more, and Mingyu imagined Soonyoung dragging him away. “Who’s even in there?”

When there were no more voices outside the door, Mingyu and Wonwoo looked at each other once again before laughing to themselves. Though their laughter died down, small smiles remained on their faces, and Mingyu felt his heart swell up for the nth time that evening.

“Thank you for tonight,” Mingyu whispered as the two of them moved their heads closer to each other.

“Thank you, as well,” Wonwoo replied, closing his eyes and letting Mingyu leave gentle kisses all around his face, his eyelids, his cheeks, the tip of his nose--you name it. When Wonwoo no longer felt Mingyu’s lips lingering on his skin, he opened his eyes, and the two of them just stared at each other before leaning in for a kiss on the lips.

Neither of them seemed to want the night to end, so they spent the rest of the night talking about various trivial things until their eyelids couldn’t stay open any longer. The last thing Mingyu remembered before going to sleep was the fact that Wonwoo’s hair smelled like green apples, a shampoo scent that Mingyu was certain he would associate with the older from that point on.

 

When Mingyu woke up that morning, he felt a sense of extreme giddiness that he could only credit to his conviction that last night he had crossed paths with the most amazing, down-to-earth guy, and there was a newfound potential for them to become something more. But this feeling of being on cloud nine was cut short when he turned around and realized that he was alone in the room with no note or anything, and suddenly Mingyu was not sure how to feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you managed to read everything up to this point, hats off to you because you're great ♥


	3. Questions and Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Later that evening, Mingyu gathered the courage to call Wonwoo, an action that he was rather embarrassed to admit took longer than he expected it to. It was weird, Mingyu thought, how nervous he felt to call someone who he wasn’t afraid to approach during the housewarming party and open up a million and one thoughts to during the span of knowing him for only a few hours."

After getting fully clothed and gathering Seokmin’s bed sheets, Mingyu went downstairs. While heading down, he wondered if the staircase of this house had always been so long, but he figured it only felt that way because the view of where he was going was skewed by the thick sheets he was holding, the minor headache from drinking a few beverages last night was finally catching up to him, and the lower-half of his body was sore for obvious reasons. 

By the time Mingyu arrived on the first floor, he saw his friends scattered all over the living room, their sleeping bodies scooted together on the couch or sprawled out on the carpet floor with pillows and blankets scattered all over the place. While heading towards the laundry room, which was in the tiny hallway separating the living room and the garage, Mingyu smelled bacon and eggs being fried and saw that Seokmin was cooking in the kitchen while Soonyoung was sitting on a chair with his head down on the table.

“Good morning,” Mingyu said, and Seokmin turned his head to see him. 

“Good morning,” Seokmin replied, and Mingyu’s not sure if it was just him or if Soonyoung also gave his own greeting in the form of a soft, garbled whine. Mingyu also expected Seokmin to say something along the lines of so you were the one fucking in my room, but instead, the older simply said, “You could just leave those bed sheets in the washing machine. I’ll take care of it.”

“You’re way nicer when you’re hungover,” Mingyu jokingly pointed out, a bit impressed.

“That’s because I’m trying not to provoke myself, worsen my headache, and puke--not necessarily in that order,” Seokmin replied very carefully, as if speaking any faster or louder will ruin his body. Mingyu laughed, and continued walking to the laundry room. “Are you staying for breakfast?”

“I’m offended that you think I’d actually reject free food,” Mingyu responded, and Seokmin began to laugh only to cut himself short because of the sudden jolt of his headache.

“Fuck, I’m going to die,” Seokmin deadpanned.

 

After Mingyu put the bedsheets in the washer (and started the washer because he actually felt bad about getting it dirty), he came out of the laundry room and went to the living room where everyone was now awake and looking either like decent human beings or like death as they gathered around the coffee table topped with plates of breakfast.

There were conversations going on left and right, with people filling in each other’s gaps about what they knew went on last night. Apparently, Seungkwan began doing a one-man show of _Hamilton: the Musical_ , to which Hansol had video proof in case anyone wanted to see it; Junhui vomited on the next door neighbor’s plants and went back there even after Jihoon pulled him back inside the house so he could throw up in the bathroom instead; and Seungcheol almost killed himself trying to parkour at “every fucking corner of this goddamn two-story house,” as Minghao nicely put it.

Mingyu was laughing along to all the stories he mostly didn’t get to witness himself, but then the conversation shifted to Wonwoo, who was very much absent at the moment, and Mingyu suddenly felt a weird mix of eagerness and anxiety as everyone began talking about him.

The consensus was that Wonwoo was a really cool and friendly guy, and everyone was looking forward to hanging out with him more after last night.

“It seems like there’s someone in this room who’s looking forward to hanging out with him a bit more than the others, though,” Soonyoung teasingly said, throwing an arm over Mingyu and giving a knowing smile. “Huh, Mingyu?” With how excited Soonyoung looked, Mingyu almost forgot that the older was just about to drop dead while Seokmin was cooking earlier. And, at the moment, he kind of wish he did.

Mingyu nervously laughed, waving his hand in denial. “Ah, no, it’s not like that--”

Upon registering the implication of Soonyoung’s words, everyone began catcalling Mingyu and letting out _oooh_ s and _aaah_ s as they began to piece things together.

“You guys hooked up, didn’t you?”

“No wonder we didn’t see you guys for the rest of the party.”

“How many rounds did you do?”

“Holy shit, that hickey on your neck is no joke.”

“Thanks for the invite.”

“What the fuck, Junhui?”

“I’m kidding.”

Mingyu didn’t intend to respond to rampage of questions and comments being directed at him until Seungcheol asked, “Where is Wonwoo, anyway? Did he leave earlier?”

When Mingyu heard that question, he wished that he had an actual response to give, and he felt like he should have had one, but he was just as lost as Seungcheol. Before he could admit that he didn’t know, Jeonghan spoke up.

“I woke up at around 6 to go to the bathroom, and by the time I came out, he was already by the door,” the boy said as he fixed his loosened ponytail. “I was going to talk to him, but he seemed like he was in a rush to leave, so I didn’t bother.”

Mingyu knew that he himself had woken up at around 9:30, so he tried to think about whether he felt a dip in the bed or a loss of body warmth or anything that would indicate Wonwoo was leaving early in the morning, but he couldn’t come up with anything and cursed his deep sleeping habits.

 

A few days later, Mingyu was walking to the parking lot after a two-hour lecture, and in the midst of wondering why he ever thought it was a good idea to stay in the 8 AM class, a GE class to that, he collided with someone, causing the other person to drop their doughnut on the ground.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” Mingyu immediately said, bending down to pick up the wasted half-eaten doughnut. When he stood back up, Mingyu was stunned to be face-to-face with Wonwoo, who looked just as surprised to see him.

It was kind of a surreal encounter for Mingyu because they haven’t seen each other nor contacted each other since the housewarming party, and life got in the way enough for Mingyu to not wrap his head around their closure-less night together. But now that Wonwoo was in front of him, like actually physically in front of him, Mingyu’s thoughts began to race.

“Oh, Mingyu! Hi,” Wonwoo warmly greeted before Mingyu could get a word out. The surprised expression on Wonwoo’s face was exchanged for a friendly smile.

“Hey!” Mingyu replied, trying his best to kill off the jittery feeling that started to consume him. He then raised the hand that was now holding the glazed doughnut and flashing a guilty smile. “Sorry about your doughnut.”

“Don’t worry about it…” Wonwoo said. “Or should I say, _doughnut_ worry about it.” Mingyu thought back to when they were talking in Soonyoung’s patio. He learned that Wonwoo told jokes when he’s nervous, and Mingyu wondered if this was one of those moments.

Mingyu pretended to act as if he had just heard the worst joke ever and resisted the urge to laugh as he gave a judgmental look. Wonwoo stayed smiling, expecting Mingyu to break into laughter as a result, which the younger eventually couldn’t help but do. “That was terrible.”

“I mean, you laughed,” Wonwoo replied with a shrug. “Anyway, how are you?”

They spoke for a couple of minutes, just catching each other up on what they’ve been doing the past few days, mostly relating to school and work. While the conversation went smoothly, the two of them seemed to know that they were just beating around the bush and trying to avoid bringing up the more weighty subject of their sexual encounter and what it could possibly entail.

The whole time, Mingyu’s mind was waiting for the perfect moment to ask something along the lines of _so, why did you leave?_ But he realized that he couldn’t ask that without making it abrupt, so he let the opportunity slip and bid goodbye to Wonwoo when the older excused himself to go to work, which Mingyu thought was rather perfect timing considering that they were running out of trivial things to talk about.

“See you later,” Wonwoo said, flashing the smile.

“Yeah, see you, too,” Mingyu replied, giving a smile of his own before they met each other halfway for a hug. When they pulled away, they gave each other one last wave before Wonwoo began walking away. 

When Mingyu arrived in his car, he just sat behind the steering wheel for a few minutes to think about his encounter with Wonwoo and all his thoughts about their night together that began to rapidly surface. As he drove away, his mind continued to linger on one particular question. 

What exactly did he want to come out from that night?

 

“Hey, Soonyoung?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I have Wonwoo’s phone number?”

Soonyoung turned his attention from the textbook he was reading, which Mingyu wasn’t very sure he was actually reading if staying on the same page for the past fifteen minutes was any indication, and looked across the table at Mingyu as if the younger asked a rather thought-provoking question. His eyebrows were scrunched and his head was tilted, and Mingyu would be lying if he said he didn’t feel like he was silently being scrutinized.

“What?” Mingyu eventually asked, briefly touching his face when he began to think there was something on it.

Soonyoung shook his head, as if saying don’t worry about it, and took out a black gel pen and a light blue post-it note. He jot down the phone number he seemed to know by heart and passed the piece of paper to Mingyu once he finished writing on it. “I just thought that you and Wonwoo were talking 24/7 this whole time,” Soonyoung said, finally turning the page of his textbook. 

Mingyu briefly read the phone number before folding the piece of paper and tucking it into his shirt’s pocket. “Thanks,” he said, and Soonyoung hummed in acknowledgement before he continued speaking.

“Wonwoo tries to bring you up as casually as possible, but it’s not really casual because we could be talking about a Poli Sci quiz we just took and he’ll be like, ‘You know what I noticed? Mingyu has really long eyelashes.’ And how the fuck do I respond to that when all I asked was, ‘What did you put for question number eight?’”

Mingyu laughed, ignoring the warmth in his cheeks that began to surface when he began to imagine Wonwoo talking about him to others--Wonwoo, who was too good for this world and a million times better-looking than Mingyu himself.

“But now that I notice them, you do have long eyelashes,” Soonyoung said in awe, leaning over the table with the intent to touch Mingyu’s eyelashes, which Mingyu never consented to and was already backing his head as Soonyoung tried to reach for him. “Just let me touch them! They look so nice and soft!”

“No!”

 

Later that evening, Mingyu gathered the courage to call Wonwoo, an action that he was rather embarrassed to admit took longer than he expected it to. It was weird, Mingyu thought, how nervous he felt to call someone who he wasn’t afraid to approach during the housewarming party and open up a million and one thoughts to during the span of knowing him for only a few hours. Now granted, Mingyu didn’t discount alcohol’s involvement in giving him a little more confidence, but he knew for a fact that he didn’t drink enough to get drunk and speak or act without a rational mind.

When his cellphone reached the fourth ring, Mingyu began to lose hope and wonder how many more rings would he hear until Wonwoo’s voicemail came up. He was already moving his cellphone away from his ear to end the call when he heard a faint voice through the speakers.

“Hello?”

Wonwoo’s voice sounded a bit raspy, as if he had just been sleeping before Mingyu called. Mingyu looked at the wall-clock in his room, realized that it was was a little past midnight, and silently cursed himself for not noticing that sooner.

“Hello?” Wonwoo asked again, which snapped Mingyu out of his thoughts and made him remember that he hadn’t spoken yet.

Placing the cellphone back on his ear, Mingyu replied, “Hey, Wonwoo, it’s Mingyu.” 

When he said that, Mingyu heard a bit of shuffling and pictured Wonwoo sitting up on his bed.

“Oh, Mingyu… Hey,” Wonwoo sounded more awake this time. “What’s… What’s up?”

Mingyu looked at his clock again, feeling guilty for waking the other up. “Sorry for calling this late. I’ll just call another time--”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Wonwoo cut him off. “Why did you call?”

Before realizing the time, Mingyu had intended to call Wonwoo so that they could finally talk about what went on the past weekend and straighten things out through the phone, but because of his awful timing, Mingyu decided to do something else.

“I wanted to ask you if we could maybe meet up tomorrow,” he started, “so we could talk about what happened between us this past weekend.”

“Of course,” he said without hesitation, and hearing that caused Mingyu to release the breath he didn’t know he was even holding in the first place. “What time?”

They arranged a meeting time and place and agreed on 7 o’clock in the evening at the park that they learned was on the halfway mark between their apartments. After bidding each other _goodnight_ , _goodbye_ , and _see you tomorrow_ , they ended the call.

 

When Mingyu arrived at the meeting place at 6:50, after miscalculating how much time it would take for him to get to the park, he was surprised to see Wonwoo already sitting on one of the benches by the lake. There weren’t many people in the area Wonwoo was by, just few couples pushing strollers or watching their kids run around in the open space, and Mingyu thought that the sight was rather picturesque.

As Mingyu walked closer to the bench, he noticed that Wonwoo was frequently glancing at his watch, fiddling with his hands, and shaking his leg. He appeared more nervous than Mingyu could recall Wonwoo ever being, but when Mingyu made his presence known by greeting him, all those nerves seemed to have washed away with no trace of it in sight as the older looked up and flashed a smile at Mingyu.

“Hello,” Wonwoo greeted, just as warmly as all the other times they greeted each other.

Mingyu thought Wonwoo was doing such a good job at hiding his unease that, for a split second, he wondered if he really saw Wonwoo looking nervous earlier.

“You’re here early,” Mingyu pointed out as he occupied the vacant spot next to Wonwoo.

“I was actually hanging out with Jeonghan earlier and had nothing to do afterwards, so I figured that I may as well just wait here to kill time,” Wonwoo replied before jokingly adding, “I thought I had ten more minutes to myself.”

Mingyu laughed at the lighthearted comment before explaining his own early arrival.

“Ah,” Wonwoo said when Mingyu finished speaking. “Happens to me all the time.”

It was quiet between them for a minute as they watched the people around them carry on with their lives. During this time, Mingyu wondered how peculiar it was that everyone who passed by him had their own thoughts and their own stories and how, at this very moment, Wonwoo and he were both lost in the bottomless pit of their minds trying to figure out what to say to each other. 

But now was not the time to have an existential crisis, so, thinking _it’s now or never_ , Mingyu was first to break the silence.

“So why did you leave?”

Wonwoo didn’t seem like he was caught off-guard by the question. In fact, he seemed to be anticipating the question and was just waiting for it to finally be asked, judging by the way it only took him a deep breath before giving his answer.

“I left because everything just happened so quickly,” he started to explain as the two of them stared off into the lake. “One minute, we’re introducing ourselves to each other, and the next minute we’re kissing and cuddling and fucking and telling each other how perfect we are as if we’ve had several months of dating to lead us up to that point. I was scared at how fast I fell for you, and I thought, ‘No, this can’t be right’ because love stories don’t happen overnight, and that’s what I started to think I wanted with you when I woke up in the middle of the night and saw you sleeping next to me.”

Mingyu felt his blood run cold and his heart constrict as if it were being squeezed upon hearing the last sentence. He didn’t know what to make of it because the term ‘love’ was such a heavy word, and he wondered if this sudden feeling of fear towards actually describing anything they did that night as anything close to love was what Wonwoo was feeling.

The older continued to speak. “I was scared to think that, you know? Because I felt like I was getting ahead of myself and thought that you were going to agree on that once morning came.” 

“So you left me before you could find out how I felt?” Mingyu asked, looking down at his hands, which were resting on his lap. He didn’t mean for the question to sound rhetorical, or to make Wonwoo feel guilty; he just wanted to know if he was following Wonwoo’s thoughts correctly.

Wonwoo nodded. “To save myself from any possible heartbreak during the height of my emotions,” he added, “which I now understand is the most selfish thing I could have possibly done, and I’m sorry for that.” There was a pause, as if Wonwoo hesitated for a bit. “But, Mingyu?”

Mingyu lifted his head and turned to Wonwoo, who continued to look straight ahead. “Yeah?”

“What would you have done if I stayed?”

Mingyu processed the question over and over again because he realized that, in the midst of being so wrapped up in trying to figure out why Wonwoo left, he never thought about what he would have actually done or how he would have truly felt if he woke up with Wonwoo next to him. He knew that he woke up feeling giddy, but giddy about what? Giddy that he just got laid, or giddy that he may have found the love of his life? Or something else?

When he realized his mind let the word ‘love’ slip, the fear from earlier came back.

“I honestly don’t know,” Mingyu soon admitted. “I just know that it wasn’t just lust that I felt for you that night, but I don’t think I’m… in love… with you?” He ended his response on a rather uncertain note, and he felt bad to say the last part but thought it was necessary to include in order to further understand their jumbled feelings.

Wonwoo nodded, acknowledging the answer, and Mingyu could’ve sworn the older’s eyes sparked a flash of relief upon hearing that Mingyu wasn’t in love with him. He felt the corner of his lip move upward in amusement. 

“You know what I think we’re both going through?” Wonwoo then asked.

“What?”

“Infatuation,” Wonwoo replied, and Mingyu was surprised that he wasn’t that surprised by the older’s suggestion. “Just think about it. When we met, the first thing we thought of each other was, ‘He’s hot.’ Then we heavily flirted, knowing that the superficial attraction was mutual and thinking that there was nothing to really lose in the moment.”

Thinking that he was getting the hang of Wonwoo’s theory, Mingyu added to it. “Then we got carried away and hooked up, thinking that we were perfect for each other because of how much we were able to open up to each other that night. And we were left at a loss of what to do the morning after and the following week because reality pretty much bit us in the ass.”

“Exactly,” Wonwoo agreed, and Mingyu suddenly felt like the last bits of tension hanging above the two of them finally disappeared into the thin air. “But I mean, if, hypothetically speaking, somewhere down the line our infatuation turns out to actually be something else, at least we’d have the friendship we developed between now and then to justify our feelings, right?”

“Who said I wanted to be friends with you after this?” Mingyu looked at Wonwoo, pretending as if the older said something offensive, which caused Wonwoo to look slightly alarmed.

“Well, I thought--”

“I’m just kidding,” Mingyu replied before Wonwoo could have a heart attack on the spot while trying to figure out how to answer him. He felt bad for joking in a moment like this, but he couldn’t help it.

Wonwoo didn’t spare a second before harshly shoving Mingyu from the side and yelling, “You piece of shit!” Mingyu bursted out laughing and raised his hands in self-defense as Wonwoo began slapping different parts of his upper body. “God, I swear I was going to drop dead when you said that.”

“You want to be my friend that bad, huh?” Mingyu cheekily asked, to which Wonwoo rolled his eyes and let out a fake laugh.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he replied. “But yes, Mingyu… I’m so obsessed with you, and I want to be your friend, perhaps or preferably your only friend.” Mingyu laughed once again, and this time Wonwoo joined in with his own genuine laughter.

 

When Mingyu went to sleep that night, his heart was filled with an overwhelming bliss knowing that Wonwoo and he were going to be friends and were going to be okay. He wasn't sure how long they were going to be remain this way, but for now, he was content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys are still enjoying my story! there's more meanie moments to come (~‾⌣‾)~


	4. Testing the Waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why don’t we go on a date with each other just to see how it goes?” 
> 
> It was the most simple solution to their dilemma of having nosy friends, and Mingyu wasn’t sure why he didn’t think of it sooner. The prospect of taking Wonwoo out on a date didn’t seem dreadful to Mingyu because they _have_ been getting along since the moment they met and found each other attractive at some point (and if Mingyu was being totally honest, Wonwoo was still pretty damn good looking).

Fast forward to a couple of months later, when Mingyu took Seokmin out to eat lunch before the latter’s dreadful string of back-to-back classes. Eating out together had been an almost weekly ritual during their first year of university, when the two of them lived in the freshmen dormitory together and were just a block away from a plaza filled with several food places. Now that they lived in different places (a result of having to plan housing arrangements too early during the school year when Mingyu and Seokmin weren’t close yet) and had different schedules, they had less opportunities to hang out one-on-one, so they tried to meet up at any given opportunity.

“Is that all you ordered?” Seokmin asked as Mingyu walked towards their booth near the window holding a plastic cup filled with bubble tea. Unlike Mingyu, Seokmin had ordered a meal that was still being cooked.

Mingyu nodded as he sat across the older and took a sip of his drink. “Yeah,” he replied. “I’m actually going to meet up for lunch with Wonwoo after I drop you back off to campus.”

Seokmin’s mouth formed an ‘o’ before he asked, “Are you guys dating?”

Mingyu narrowed his eyebrows in confusion and shook his head. “No.”

“Hm, really?” Seokmin asked, though he didn’t wait for a response before continuing his trail of thoughts. “For the past month or so you guys have sure been acting like you are.”

Mingyu wouldn’t say that it was the first time he heard such an observation, but he didn’t hear it enough to be desensitized to it. He was still curious how Seokmin and others came to the conclusion that Wonwoo and he acted like a couple. “We just became really good friends, that’s all.”

“I’m not saying that you guys didn’t,” Seokmin clarified, pausing halfway into his sentence to thank the waiter who dropped off his order to their table, “but you two do some really questionable things.”

At this, Mingyu only grew more genuinely curious. “Like what?”

“Hug each other from the back every chance you get.”

“We both like skinship--”

“Hold each other’s hands.”

“Now, everyone holds hands--”

“ _Kiss_ the back of each other’s hands,” Seokmin said, looking at Mingyu as if he were putting up a challenge to hear how the younger would justify that gesture in particular. 

“The list goes on,” the older continued after concluding that Mingyu had nothing to say, “but I’d rather be stuffing my face with this popcorn chicken and waffle fries combo than talking, so.”

As Seokmin began to eat, Mingyu tried to recall all the times that Wonwoo and he did any of the gestures that Seokmin pointed out. The problem, however, was that their skinship seemed like such a natural and ingrained part of their friendship that it was easy to overlook any occasion of holding hands and hugging and the likes. So because these actions felt so natural and thus rather insignificant, Mingyu couldn’t really tell how frequently Wonwoo and did “questionable things.”

 

After Mingyu dropped Seokmin back off to campus, he drove to a burger joint about five minutes away from school. While Mingyu wasn’t too fond of the place, Wonwoo had always claimed with such assertion that said burger joint was the best thing to ever happen to him during his twenty years of life. 

“You’re such a messy eater,” Mingyu said to Wonwoo, who was pretty much stuffing his face with the cheeseburger he had ordered as if his life relied on it. Okay, Mingyu may have been exaggerating, but Wonwoo definitely had some sauce on the corners of his lips, and Mingyu leaned across the table to wipe it off with a napkin.

“Whatever,” Wonwoo replied when Mingyu moved his hand away from his face. “It’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone, anyway."

Wonwoo’s comment reminded Mingyu of the conversation he had with Seokmin earlier, and he soon asked, “Hey, Wonwoo?”

“Sup?”

“Do you think we do things that are questionable?”

“Questionable how?” Wonwoo asked in return before eating a french fry and looking straight at Mingyu. 

“Questionable as in we give people the impression that we’re together,” Mingyu replied. He left out the examples that Seokmin gave him to see if Wonwoo would bring those up, which he didn’t.

Instead, Wonwoo frankly stated, “Well, I mean... We _did_ fuck on the night we met and continue to talk to this day.”

“Okay, aside from that,” Mingyu replied after rolling his eyes, and Wonwoo laughed.

Mingyu felt like it had been such a long time since they hooked up even though no more than two and a half months had passed since then. While Mingyu and Wonwoo initially found it awkward if not difficult to bring up and talk about what happened between them, they eventually came to accept their encounter as a part of their friendship history. As a result of accepting their encounter as such, Mingyu and Wonwoo were able to casually bring it up to each other and not feel weird about it.

“You haven’t answered my question,” Mingyu pouted when Wonwoo continued to eat his food instead of give a verbal response.

“I’m pretty sure I have,” Wonwoo said, raising an eyebrow at Mingyu. 

When Mingyu accepted that Wonwoo wasn’t going to change or add to his answer, he threw a piece of his own french fries at Wonwoo, which the older cheekily caught with his hand and ate. 

“I hate to admit that was kind of cool,” Mingyu said after snapping out of few seconds of awe.

Wonwoo laughed and jokingly shrugged as if it were nothing. “I know.”

 

Before Mingyu met Wonwoo, Mingyu wasn’t an avid user of FaceTime or any other video-chatting applications. All of his friends were of walking or driving distance, and if they weren’t physically together, it would most likely be because they had just finished hanging out. Thus, video-chatting felt pretty obsolete because Mingyu was lucky enough to have the option to see his friends in person whenever they wanted to meet up. On top of that, Mingyu liked the alone time he had after a long day of being out and about with friends.

Wonwoo was the one who initiated their first FaceTime conversation about a week into their newfound friendship. The older chose last minute to pull an all-nighter for an exam the next day and knew that Mingyu was doing the same thing for a different class, so he decided to call the younger for company. Despite feeling a bit uncomfortable during the first few minutes of them just studying in silence, Mingyu quickly warmed up to Wonwoo’s virtual presence and liked that he had someone to speak to whenever a random thought came into his mind. 

From then on, FaceTiming became an almost nightly routine for them, whether it was as a primary activity or just something to put to the side while they were studying, and Mingyu ended up liking this routine more than he expected to in the beginning.

Tonight, Mingyu and Wonwoo were FaceTiming each other just for the sake of FaceTiming each other. One of the topics that Wonwoo had brought up was that even more of their friends began to question Mingyu and his relationship status as if they were trying to solve a million-dollar mystery.

“I really don’t know what to tell them at this point because they just refuse to believe me when I say we’re not together,” Wonwoo ranted as he turned to lay on his left side and used his free hand to pull his grey blanket up to his chin.

When Wonwoo said this, Mingyu came up with an idea.

“Why don’t we go on a date with each other just to see how it goes?” 

It was the most simple solution to their dilemma of having nosy friends, and Mingyu wasn’t sure why he didn’t think of it sooner. The prospect of taking Wonwoo out on a date didn’t seem dreadful to Mingyu because they _have_ been getting along since the moment they met and found each other attractive at some point (and if Mingyu was being totally honest, Wonwoo was still pretty damn good looking).

Wonwoo raised his eyebrows at the question. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Mingyu replied, unconsciously copying Wonwoo’s action of rolling over to his side, “because really, what’s holding us back from going on one?”

“True,” Wonwoo said, slowly nodding his head a bit as if he were slowly processing Mingyu’s words. He then looked as if an imaginary light bulb flashed above his head and said, “One of my co-workers gave me a free pair of movie tickets today, and I was actually going to ask if you wanted to catch a film tomorrow. Wanna make that our date?”

Mingyu and Wonwoo have watched a movie together at the theater once before, but labeling their hangout as a date this time around made Mingyu feel a bit excited. A movie date definitely took the crown for the most cliche type of date glamorized by Hollywood, and Mingyu was curious to see how Wonwoo and he would act or feel in that situation. 

Smiling, Mingyu replied. “Sounds good.”

Mingyu saw Wonwoo smile back, but the bad quality of the older’s front camera plus the poor lighting of his bedroom prevented Mingyu from noticing the faint pink that spread across the older’s cheeks. Wonwoo let out a long yawn and covered his mouth with his blanket while doing so. “Alright,” he said after moving the blanket away from his mouth. “I’m going to sleep now, goodnight. See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Mingyu said before cheekily adding, “Dream of me.”

“And suddenly I’m awake,” Wonwoo replied, pretending as if he didn’t appear tired just seconds ago. Mingyu laughed, which caused Wonwoo to do the same shortly after. “Okay, really. Bye.”

“Later.”

The two of them waved at each other as they made dumb faces to each other in front of the camera before ending their video call.

 

When Mingyu got ready for his date, he felt silly for being super indecisive about what clothes to wear to the movies. It wasn’t like he couldn’t care less about what to wear on any other day, but today’s situation was just a bit different. On top of wanting to look good for himself, Mingyu wanted to look good for Wonwoo. He didn’t know where this sudden drive of wanting to impress Wonwoo came from, but he had a feeling that it was the placebo effect of labeling their hangout as a date.

Mingyu eventually decided to wear a white sweater, washed out jeans, and a pair of black Converse. But before he left his room, Mingyu slipped on a black mid-length coat when he remembered that it was the middle of December and the weather was only getting colder by the hour.

“Got a date?” One of Mingyu’s housemate, Jungkook, asked when Mingyu walked into the living room slash kitchen. Jungkook was a second year Political Science and Music double major whose schedule was busy with school and extracurriculars, which resulted in Mingyu rarely seeing him around in the apartment. It was unfortunate, too, because Jungkook seemed like a pretty cool guy.

“How could you tell?” Mingyu asked, a bit surprised. Jungkook, who was cooking, briefly turned his head around and smiled.

“I was just guessing,” he replied and laughed. “Have fun.”

“Thanks,” Mingyu smiled, trying to ignore the small adrenaline rush he felt when Jungkook’s words reminded him for the nth time that day that he was actually about to go on a legit date with Wonwoo, and there was no doubt that they were going to have a good time.

 

“Hey, loser,” Wonwoo greeted as he got inside the passenger side of Mingyu’s car. “You’re looking pretty hot today.”

Mingyu laughed at Wonwoo’s blunt comment. “Are we going back to our heavy, unrestrained flirting today?” He teasingly asked, recalling how easy it was for them to compliment each other when they first met.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo lightheartedly replied. “We gotta get in the mood for this date, Mingyu.”

“Our flirting got us in the mood for something else,” Mingyu deadpanned as he began to drive. Wonwoo easily caught the implication, if playfully shoving Mingyu on the shoulder were any indication, which Mingyu softly laughed at. 

From his peripheral view, Mingyu caught the small smile on Wonwoo’s face before the latter turned his head to look out the window. 

“You’re looking pretty good yourself,” Mingyu soon said, and he really meant it. Wonwoo wore an olive green army jacket on top of a grey zip-up hoodie, a pair of dark jeans, and brown boots. Not only that, but Wonwoo’s hair was once again styled so that his forehead showed, much to Mingyu’s fancy.

“Thanks,” Wonwoo replied. “I had to look good for my date, you know.”

And just like that, Mingyu felt that same adrenaline rush from earlier.

When he reached a stoplight, Mingyu stole a glance at Wonwoo, who was now looking straight ahead at the road. The glance was no longer than two seconds, but Mingyu took in enough of Wonwoo’s features to feel his heart jump in response. Wonwoo was so beautiful, honestly, and Mingyu wasn’t sure how he managed to bury that thought to the back of his mind for the past couple of months and not let that make him a shy mess around the older. While he was able to put aside his attraction the first time around, Mingyu wasn’t entirely sure if he would be able to do it a second time.

 

The movie that they ended up watching was some action film that was all the hype on social media, and Mingyu was sure he’d enjoy the film if only he actually paid attention to the plot from beginning to end. But Mingyu’s mind was too preoccupied with something--or in this case, someone--else.

Mingyu wondered if all the movie characters who went on a date like this felt the same as he did at that moment. He wondered if the actors behind those characters were told to look at their date and become captivated by the way the flashes of light from the large screen in front of them reflected on their faces in an almost artistic, translucent way and allowed an array of highlights and shadows to paint their features. More importantly, Mingyu wondered if the actors were told to be hyper-aware of any movement the other person made and to feel as if their heart could jump out of their rib cage from every accidental brush of arms or hands.

Wonwoo reached over to the bucket of popcorn sitting between them, his eyes still glued to the movie, and Mingyu couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if they accidentally reached over at the same time. He pictured the two of them doing something dumb, like starting a subtle popcorn fight or trying to shove each other’s hands away from the popcorn, and he didn’t realize that he let out a soft laugh at the thought until Wonwoo looked at him with a half-amused, half-judging face.

“Pay attention to the movie,” Mingyu faux-scolded and mouthed the words, though he wasn’t practicing what he preached. Wonwoo lightheartedly rolled his eyes but did turn his attention back to the film, and the younger held back another laugh with a smile.

When the ending credits began to play and the theater gradually began to light up, Mingyu stood up and stretched his arms out a bit. Wonwoo got up shortly after and did his own stretch before hooking his arm with Mingyu’s as they began to walk.

Mingyu smirked and took the gesture as his chance to tease Wonwoo. “Clingy much?”

Wonwoo only tightened their arms’ hold on each other and smiled at the younger. “Yeah, totally.” 

Mingyu laughed at Wonwoo’s sarcasm and adjusted his arm so that he could hold hands with the older while they walked back to his car. They briefly let go of each other’s hands to get inside the car, but it didn’t take long before their hands found their way back to each other as Mingyu began driving.

“Do you want to eat anything?” Mingyu asked.

“I’m actually really craving those two for 99 cents tacos from Jack in the Box,” Wonwoo replied, flashing a sheepish smile when Mingyu briefly turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “What? They’re so good. I swear I could marry them.”

“I’ve never tried them,” Mingyu replied. Saying that was apparently a huge offense to Wonwoo, whose jaw slacked.

“ _No_ ,” Wonwoo incredulously said. “Really?”

Mingyu nodded.

“Well shit, Mingyu, you better drive your ass to the nearest Jack in the Box then.”

 

“This shit is so unhealthy, but it’s so good,” Mingyu practically moaned after taking a bite of the infamous taco and wondering where it’s been all his life. “It’s like a forbidden love story.”

Wonwoo laughed, satisfied by the younger’s reaction, and took a bite of his own taco.

After they bought their food and drinks from Jack in the Box, they decided to drive to the park between their apartments and hang out there for a while. It was the same park that they met up in when they talked about the night they hooked up, but the mood was way different now than it had been back then.

The night sky was painted a rich blue color with a few sparkling stars scattered across the board. There was no one around as far as Mingyu knew, and Wonwoo and he chose not to sit on one of the benches. Instead, they were sitting cross-legged on the grass near the lake with their food laid out in front of them, their arms hooked up, and their fingers intertwined once again. Compared to the last time they were here, their moment right now felt much more intimate and much more comfortable despite any nerves they might have been feeling from being aware that they were technically on a date.

They talked about whatever topic their minds could think of, from other fast food that Mingyu’s missing out on to what plans they had for the rest of the week, and they didn’t seem to mind the comfortable silences they fell into every few minutes.

“So how’s our date so far?” Mingyu asked after crumpling one of his taco wrappers and throwing it back into the slightly greased paper bag. While the greater majority of his mind had a feeling that Wonwoo was having a good time just like he was, there was still the very tiny pessimistic voice in the back of his mind saying otherwise.

“I’ve been enjoying it, I really have,” Wonwoo replied. “What about you?”

“I’ve been having a great time, too,” Mingyu said.

Wonwoo didn’t respond for a few seconds, but when he did, he simply asked, “Can I be honest with you?”

Mingyu nodded, briefly wondering why Wonwoo felt the need to ask that. “Of course.”

“Throughout the evening, I began to wonder if infatuation was really the right term for how I felt on the night we met,” Wonwoo said, and Mingyu felt his heart start to race faster and faster as the seconds flew by because he felt like he knew where this was going, “or if I really did fall head-over-heels for you that quickly.”

Mingyu didn’t know how to respond to Wonwoo’s words and felt a bit stunned upon hearing Wonwoo say that. Wonwoo must’ve sensed Mingyu’s slight shock, so he gave the younger’s hand a light squeeze before pulling away. Mingyu instantly missed the warmth in his hand.

“You don’t have to respond to that,” Wonwoo said, not looking dejected by the lack of verbal response from Mingyu. “I just felt like you should know that I think… I think my feelings for you are changing.”

For the next few minutes, they engulfed in a period of silence, and Mingyu took this as his opportunity to sort out his own feelings as much as he could. In the end, after thinking about how Wonwoo effortlessly made him laugh and smile and blush and feel so happy with life, Mingyu decided that maybe, just maybe, Wonwoo’s feelings weren’t the only ones changing.

“Are you ready to go?” Mingyu asked, and Wonwoo nodded. The two of them stood up from their spots on the grass, and with a resurfaced confidence, Mingyu draped an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders.

The older seemed surprised by the physical contact, as if he thought that his confession of sorts from earlier had made awkward the idea of having such contact, and looked up to meet Mingyu’s eyes. Mingyu looked down at Wonwoo with a soft smile that Wonwoo soon returned as he wrapped his own arm around Mingyu’s lower back, and their smiles felt like a silent reassurance that they weren’t going to deny or re-translate what they felt was blossoming between them this time around.

 

When Mingyu pulled up in front of Wonwoo’s apartment building, the two of them were laughing over a story that Wonwoo shared. As their laughter subsided, Mingyu was rather bummed by the realization that their date was going to end in a few minutes. He knew that Wonwoo and he were probably still going to text or FaceTime once they were home and that tomorrow they were probably going to hangout together with a few other friends, but he really liked spending a day just testing the waters of what could be with Wonwoo.

“I guess I’ll leave now,” Wonwoo said distastefully, also not seeming to be too thrilled with the impending end of their date. While saying that, he didn’t make an effort to release his hold on Mingyu’s hand, much to the younger’s amusement.

Mingyu simply raised their linked hands and kissed the back of Wonwoo’s hand. “You won’t be able to leave if you don’t let go of my hand.”

“Guess I’m holding it forever,” Wonwoo shrugged, flashing a smile at Mingyu, who felt like he should already be familiar with the random waves of adrenaline and butterflies consuming his body but was far from it.

“Fine by me,” Mingyu replied with a shrug of his own, and this time he was able to catch the faint blush that gradually surfaced on Wonwoo’s cheeks. Entranced by how Wonwoo was looking at him at that moment, Mingyu couldn’t help but lean over to kiss Wonwoo on the corner of his lips.

When Mingyu pulled away, Wonwoo swiftly leaned back in for a kiss on the lips this time around, and Mingyu didn’t hesitate to return it. Wonwoo’s lips were ridiculously soft compared to Mingyu’s relatively dry ones, and the older’s lips tasted like the rose-scented lip balm that he applied just a few minutes earlier.

The longer they kissed, the more Mingyu thought about how familiar everything felt--the way Wonwoo’s lips felt against his, the way his heart felt free of all its burdens, and the way that everything just felt so romantic. It was that last part, Mingyu soon realized, that was overlooked the first time they tried to sort out their feelings for each other. When Mingyu and Wonwoo had sex, Mingyu felt like they were sharing a moment so physically and emotionally intimate and so far from a raunchy, casual one night stand driven by hormones. But he understood that it was probably easier for them to pass off their encounter as such because it was much harder to wrap their heads around the fact that they were able to build such a deep connection in such a short amount of time.

“I’m pretty sure I could just spend the rest of my life kissing you and never get tired of doing so,” Mingyu admitted a few seconds after they pulled away to regain their breaths. 

Wonwoo chuckled. “Not to blow up your ego or anything, but I honestly wouldn’t mind if you did that to me.”

Mingyu smiled, and the two of them met each other halfway for a chaste kiss on the lips.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Wonwoo said as he let go of Mingyu’s hand, finally ready to part ways with the younger, “and I’m really hoping this was just the first of many dates.”

It was Mingyu’s turn to blush as the older’s words, but he fought the warmth on his cheeks by kissing Wonwoo yet again. “Oh, it is.”

“You know, this wouldn’t be the first time you kissed me because you were flustered,” Wonwoo teased, referencing when he slipped his hands up Mingyu’s shirt and sent a shiver down the younger’s spine. Mingyu felt his cheeks warm up just a bit more at the memory. “You stay cute.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes in faux annoyance. “Get out of my car already,” he jokingly whined.

“Okay, okay,” Wonwoo laughed, raising his hands in playful surrender. “Goodnight, goodbye, and call me when you’re back at your apartment.”

“Alright,” Mingyu replied, watching with a tinge of sadness as Wonwoo got out of his car. “See you.”

The two of them waved at each other and obnoxiously blew kisses at one another to elicit laughter. When they finally stopped and parted ways, Mingyu drove away feeling more head-over-heels than ever before.

He remembered what Wonwoo said about having their friendship to justify any feelings beyond infatuation that they may develop for each other in the future, and he realized that the feelings Wonwoo was referring to were there all along. All they needed was the reassurance that their quickly developed feelings were valid and mutual, which they agreed on today.

Suddenly, Mingyu was looking forward to the next time someone would ask if Wonwoo and he were dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! At this rate, I believe there's going to be just one more chapter (two at most) until I wrap up this story :)


	5. Long Overdue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Chill,” Mingyu replied, closing his laptop when he accepted that he wasn’t going to get much work done. “It’s only been one date.”
> 
> “‘One date’ and several months of a friendship driven by what looks like romantic and sexual tension that came AFTER falling in love at first sight AND getting into each other’s pants THEN being in denial about your feelings for each other,” Seungkwan exasperatedly said without stumbling on any of his words. “You guys are literally living an out of order love story.”
> 
> “You tell them,” Soonyoung said, extending a fist across the table to Seungkwan, who met him halfway for a fistbump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes, the last chapter is here! Enjoy ♥ (Make sure to read the end notes!!)

“So how was your guys’ date?”

Mingyu looked up from his laptop screen to stare across the table at Soonyoung in confusion. “How did you know we went on a date?”

“Wonwoo here called me last night and wouldn’t shut the fuck up about how well the date played out, how eating fast food tacos by the lake felt weirdly romantic, and how he--he says, and I quote--’almost forgot how goddamn amazing of a kisser’ you are,” Soonyoung replied, intending to tease Wonwoo by calling the latter out on how much he gushed over details of their Mingyu’s and his first date. While saying that, Soonyoung threw an arm over Wonwoo’s shoulders and lightly shook the younger. “Am I right, Wonwoo?”

Amused by the newfound information (and slightly flustered by the latter part of Soonyoung’s comment), Mingyu turned his attention from Soonyoung to hear what Wonwoo had to say about that. Wonwoo shrugged at an attempt to play off being exposed by Soonyoung, but the soft pink on his cheeks suggested that he had been pretty much betrayed by a friend who promised to not say a word about the call.

“What?” Wonwoo jokingly snapped when he saw Mingyu’s teasing smirk. “I don’t go on dates often.”

“Well, that’s going to change soon,” Mingyu smiled, to which Wonwoo gave a toothy smile of his own only for Soonyoung to obnoxiously gag at the sight before him.

“Is this how you guys felt when Seokmin and I first got together?” Soonyoung asked just as said boyfriend arrived at their table. Seokmin made sure to greet Soonyoung by kissing the top of his head before occupying the vacant spot across from him and next to Mingyu on the bench. “Disgusted and ready to vomit into the nearest waste bin?”

“But ten times worse, trust me,” Mingyu replied, having to hold back a cringe when the flashbacks of Seokmin and Soonyoung eating each others’ faces in public at every given second began to pour in. Wonwoo hummed his agreement, and Mingyu wouldn’t be surprised if he shared the same traumatizing experiences as he did.

“You guys are just being biased against us,” Seokmin said, waving off Mingyu’s response. “But yeah, how was your date? Are you two _finally_ official?”

“We’re not quite official,” Mingyu replied.

“--But we’re getting there,” Wonwoo added.

“Aw, Seokmin,” Soonyoung cooed, “look at them finishing each other’s sandwiches.”

Seokmin immediately joined in obnoxiously cooing over Mingyu and Wonwoo, and it was moments like these that reminded Mingyu of how perfect his two idiot friends were for each other. 

“Just become boyfriends already!” Seungkwan, who Mingyu honestly thought appeared out of nowhere, exclaimed as he walked towards their table and sat down next to Mingyu, sandwiching the latter between Seokmin and him. 

“Chill,” Mingyu replied, closing his laptop when he accepted that he wasn’t going to get much work done. “It’s only been one date.”

“‘One date’ and several months of a friendship driven by what looks like romantic and sexual tension that came AFTER falling in love at first sight AND getting into each other’s pants THEN being in denial about your feelings for each other,” Seungkwan exasperatedly said without stumbling on any of his words. “You guys are literally living an out of order love story.”

“You tell them,” Soonyoung said, extending a fist across the table to Seungkwan, who met him halfway for a fistbump. Mingyu rolled his eyes at the gesture, but the idea of experiencing an out of order love story continued to linger in his mind.

“I swear, you guys are more eager for us to become official than we are,” Mingyu soon responded.

“Yeah, because knowing you two are together will give us peace of mind from trying to figure out what your guys’ relationship is,” Soonyoung said.

“Well, no one asked you guys to play Sherlock on us,” Mingyu replied, and Soonyoung let out a deep sigh as a childish pout appeared on his lips. Mingyu knew that this was the closest he’d get to a defeated ‘you’re right,’ so he smiled in content.

Wonwoo simply chuckled at the exchange that took place and shook his head before getting up from his seat.

“Well, time for me to head to work,” he said, messing Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Seungkwan’s hair one by one and ignoring the boys’ whines over the action. When Wonwoo reached Mingyu, however, he showed a much nicer form of affection and hugged the younger by the neck from behind. Mingyu leaned back against Wonwoo’s body and acknowledged the hug by gently squeezing on the older’s arms before Wonwoo let go and started to walk away. “See you guys later.”

As Wonwoo walked away, Mingyu suddenly remembered that he had to stop by the ATM near Wonwoo’s on-campus work. “Actually, Wonwoo, wait! I’ll walk with you,” he said, quickly packing up his few belongings and standing up from his seat. Mingyu then did the same hair-messing gesture to the three guys as his form of goodbye. Wonwoo stopped in his tracks when he heard Mingyu and was already holding his hand out for Mingyu to hold, which he gladly did once he caught up to him.

“See what I mean?” Mingyu heard Seungkwan exasperatedly say to Soonyoung and Seokmin. “They’re practically a couple.”

 

“Are you ready for your finals next week?”

“Fuck no, I’m going to drop dead in the lecture hall before I take my first exam.”

Mingyu knew that it wasn’t very wise of him to be complaining about finals to Wonwoo through FaceTime instead of actually using his free time to study for said finals, but he figured that he could hold off for one more day his planned attempt to isolate himself from society and sell his soul for good grades.

Wonwoo chuckled. “I’ll make sure to stop by your funeral.”

“Thanks, you’re a true friend,” Mingyu replied. “You seem awfully calm for someone whose exams are back-to-back during first three days of finals week.” Unlike Wonwoo, Mingyu was going to have his exams every other day until the end of next week, which was much more convenient in terms of how much time he had to study between tests.

“Trust me, I’m actually a mess on the inside,” Wonwoo said, “but I’ve been spreading out my study schedule during these past two weeks so I don’t have a mental breakdown next week.”

“Ah, like the star student you are,” Mingyu replied with a nod. “I wish I had the same discipline as you.”

“All it takes is a scary amount of patience and an overarching fear of failure,” Wonwoo half-jokingly said, gesturing a thumbs up, and Mingyu laughed softly before they spent the rest of their night talking about topics far less significant yet far more interesting than academics.

But then again, Mingyu felt like anything that came out of Wonwoo’s mouth became ten times more significant than they initially were, even the simple pattern of soft breathing that filled the quiet air when the older fell asleep on him as their video call continued through the night. 

Whenever one of them (usually Wonwoo) fell asleep on the other, whoever was awake simply ended the video call seconds later. This time around, however, Mingyu decided to keep the call going, even though he himself went to sleep just a few minutes after Wonwoo did. Mingyu wasn’t entirely sure why he did that, but he had a feeling it had to do with the fact that a winter break without Wonwoo was getting closer and closer and all he really wanted to do was savor as much time with the older as possible.

(When Mingyu woke up in the morning, he saw that Wonwoo had ended the call just an hour earlier and laughed aloud when he read a message from the older that said _Damn, can’t believe we slept together again. Thought we left that behind on the first night we met._ )

 

By the time finals week had come to an end and students were liberated into a three-week winter break, Mingyu was severely missing his friends, to say the least. During finals week, everyone was too busy studying their asses off for classes that could make or break the rest of their academic career and had little opportunity to hangout aside from the occasional study sessions held during the week. But even then their interactions were limited because everyone was too preoccupied with writing flashcards, making outlines, reading passages, and memorizing PowerPoint slides for their different courses to engage in long conversation.

The finals week at the end of each quarter was the few times in the year when Mingyu actually missed hearing his friends make jokes so stupid they made his eyes roll over into the next century. But because the prior school year familiarized Mingyu to not seeing most of his friends during various times of the year due to school holidays, Mingyu wasn’t too devastated to be away from them for the next three weeks of winter break.

However, Mingyu wasn’t all that familiar with the prospect of being away from Wonwoo for such a long period of time because Wonwoo was a new friend (who, needless to say, was rapidly becoming someone more to Mingyu) and they’ve only ever been attached to the hip since they met. Visiting each other during break would’ve been an easy solution to the dilemma at hand, but Wonwooo was going out of the country --yes, out of the freaking _country_ \--with his family until the end of their break. As a result, Mingyu came to reluctantly accepted that Wonwoo and he were going to have to make do with technology and time zones to keep them in contact with each other.

 

So imagine Mingyu’s surprise when Wonwoo suddenly pulled up into his family’s driveway Monday evening--three days into Mingyu’s winter break and almost a week since he last saw the older. Wonwoo’s visit was the last thing Mingyu expected for several reasons. Firstly, Wonwoo’s flight was tomorrow evening. Secondly, Wonwoo lived two and a half hours away from Mingyu on a good day and took the opposite freeway home from their school, a piece of information Mingyu learned in passing. And thirdly, Wonwoo simply asked Mingyu if he was free in the evening, which was definitely not the same as _Hey, what’s your address because I’m going to drop by and make a surprise visit._

“I used Find My Friends,” Wonwoo answered, as if he were reading Mingyu’s mind full of questions and was able to translate the shock on the younger’s face. “Creepy in retrospect, I know, but somewhat romantic if you missed me as much as I missed you. I’m really hoping it’s the latter because, otherwise, this is really fucking awkward.”

At that, Mingyu’s initial shock disappeared into thin air to be replaced by laughter laced with pleasant disbelief and excitement. “Jeon Wonwoo, you’re something else,” Mingyu said with fondness before the two of them met halfway for a tight hug. “It’s a bit creepy, but I really did miss you, so I’ll let it slide.”

 

Recalling how amiable and social Wonwoo was during Soonyoung’s party, Mingyu wasn’t too surprised by how well Wonwoo was able to get along with his parents the moment he introduced them to each other. Wonwoo cracked jokes that Mingyu’s parents found hilarious, judging by their constant laughter and smiles, and he elegantly answered any questions that they had for him. At one point, Mingyu was even pulled aside by his mom, who used the old phrase of _Can you help me in the kitchen?_ (even though dinner was over long before Wonwoo arrived) just to tell him that she really enjoys Wonwoo’s company.

While Mingyu’s parents easily warmed up to Wonwoo, Mingyu’s ten-year old brother Jimin needed just a tiny push more before fully opening up. That push eventually came in the form of Wonwoo agreeing with Jimin when the boy claimed that Hawaiian pizza was the best pizza topping in existence and suggesting that Mingyu be the one to pay for the pizza that they were going to order.

(“Let’s make your Mingyu-hyung pay for everything, yeah?”

“Yeah, let’s do that! Mingyu-hyung never buys me anything!” Jimin laughed, overly excited at the prospect of having his brother buy him food.

“Hey! I always buy you stuff!” Mingyu exclaimed, playfully pulling his brother into a headlock and ruffling his hair. Jimin’s laughter only became louder by the second.)

Mingyu and Wonwoo spent the rest of their evening talking with Mingyu’s parents once again until the latter bid their goodnight, building an intricate blanket fort in the living room with Jimin (who got a great kick out of that), and eating pizza and other junk food inside said blanket fort while watching a movie.

All in all, Wonwoo had a great evening with not only Mingyu, but Mingyu’s whole family. And Mingyu genuinely thought Wonwoo getting to know his family was nice, really; but he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t hoping to spend some alone time with Wonwoo so they can just bask in just each other’s presence before Wonwoo would leave for his vacation out of the country. 

Wonwoo’s initial plan was to just hang out at Mingyu’s place for a few hours before making his two and a half hour trek back home, but Mingyu convinced him earlier on to spend the night because, on top of possibly becoming too tired to drive later in night, the ratio between the total time spent driving to Mingyu’s hometown and the time actually spent at Mingyu’s place had too big of a gap (“You might as well go big and get your driving and gas money’s worth by sleeping over”).

So because Wonwoo was going to spend the night, Mingyu wasn’t completely hopeless in getting the alone time with him that he desired. All it took was some patience to wait until everyone in the house but Wonwoo and Mingyu was fast asleep and some self-control over the tension that started to build up between the two of them as the evening passed with little to none of the physical contact they were used to having back at school. 

By the time the movie had ended, Jimin was already fast asleep between Mingyu and Wonwoo on the pile of blankets and pillows that had been laid out inside the makeshift fort.

“Jimin-ah?” Mingyu softly called out to see if his brother would wake up, but the lack of a verbal response other than a soft snore confirmed that Jimin was definitely knocked out. Mingyu then eyed Wonwoo, who was also waiting to see if Jimin would wake up, and tilted his head to the direction of the staircase.

Catching the message, Wonwoo nodded, and the two slowly got up from their spots on the floor and made their way to Mingyu’s bedroom as quietly as possible, extremely careful not to wake up anyone inside the house. 

While it was pretty much an inconvenience to get intimate inside a full house, there was something exhilarating about trying to tiptoe around the bushes and trying to keep as quiet as possible. The involuntary sounds exchanged between Mingyu and Wonwoo were toned down by plentiful lip-biting and desperate kisses. They tested the limits of the twin-sized bed that Mingyu’s long overgrown since high school but made sure that the creaking of mattress and the bedposts were not loud enough to draw suspicion. Hands and lips frantically wandered to every nook and cranny of each other’s body, leaving marks in places that were easily seen or places that only they knew of. 

Compared to the first time they hooked up, Mingyu knew that tonight was more… explicit, to say the least. But it definitely wasn’t a bad thing because, along with being an admittedly very hot experience, tonight revealed to Mingyu and Wonwoo a excitingly crude side to each other that they didn’t even know they had in them until they were put on the spot. There was a slight thrill in knowing that this side to them was a side that not many people had the chance to witness for themselves. It was almost like a dirty little secret to be selfishly kept between the two of them, and Mingyu was on board with that.

After cleaning themselves up and taking a quick shower together, Mingyu and Wonwoo got dressed into some house clothes. Because Wonwoo only had his outside clothes, Mingyu lent him a pair of grey sweatpants and a black crewneck sweater. There was something about Wonwoo smelling like Mingyu’s own shampoo and body wash rather than his usual green apple scent that made Mingyu feel some type of way. And he didn’t realize that he was staring at Wonwoo through the bathroom mirror they were standing in front of until the older stopped drying his hair with a towel, turned to the younger, and lightly elbowed him to get his attention.

“What are you looking at?” Wonwoo meant to act annoyed, but the smile on his face just didn’t meet that criteria. Mingyu felt his heart swell up from all the admiration and feelings he continued to increasingly have for the older.

“You,” Mingyu replied. Judging from the faint blush that immediately appeared on Wonwoo’s face, Mingyu’s blunt response seemed to have caught the older off guard, probably because the two of them were so used to giving each other witty responses.

Wonwoo didn’t give a verbal reply to that and instead allowed his actions to speak louder than words when he planted a chaste kiss on Mingyu’s cheek. Mingyu simply smiled at the gesture and enjoyed seeing Wonwoo’s blush turn a deeper pink.

The two of them quietly made their way back downstairs to the living room, which Mingyu was relieved to find looking the same as how they left it--television still on, empty pizza boxes and soda cups still scattered around, and fort still in tact--because that meant there was a good chance no one had woken up. Part of Mingyu was worried that Jimin had woken up at some point and noticed their sudden absence, which Mingyu would’ve felt extremely bad about, but when he peeked into the fort, he was relieved to find Jimin still in a deep slumber at about the same position as earlier.

After cleaning up the living room a bit, Mingyu and Wonwoo carefully scooted their way back inside the fort and into their same spots as earlier, with Jimin sleeping right between them. Mingyu and Wonwoo laid on their sides as they whispered to each other for a few minutes, talking about a few things but mostly planning on what time their day was going to start in the morning. At one point Jimin had stirred, and Mingyu thought his voice had woken his brother up until Jimin simply turned to his side and hugged Mingyu, nuzzling his head onto his brother’s chest. 

When the conversation had died down, Mingyu and Wonwoo stared at each other with small smiles lingering on their lips. Keeping his arms secured around Jimin, Mingyu carefully leaned closer to Wonwoo to meet the latter halfway for a sweet chaste kiss on the lips.

“Goodnight,” Mingyu said after they pulled away.

“Goodnight,” Wonwoo replied.

The morning was rather lackluster up until right after Wonwoo bid his goodbyes to Mingyu’s family. When Mingyu walked Wonwoo outside to his car, he was once again hit with the realization that this was going to be the last time until they got back to school that they were going to be in each other’s presence.

“Have a safe flight,” Mingyu said after Wonwoo and he shared a long hug, “and see you next year.”

“You make next year seem like it’s further away than it actually is,” Wonwoo said at an attempt to lighten up their mood. Mingyu chuckled and shrugged.

“I mean, it may as well be,” Mingyu responded, and Wonwoo let out the soft laugh of his that never failed to send butterflies to Mingyu’s stomach. Mingyu was busy taking in the beauty before him when he absentmindedly said, “God, I really like you…”

The last few words that had casually slipped out of Mingyu’s mouth seemed to have an effect on Wonwoo that Mingyu didn’t see coming. For a brief second, the smile on Wonwoo’s face fell in exchange for eyes widened in shock, which freaked Mingyu out because it made him wonder if he had said something wrong. 

But soon enough Wonwoo was smiling again, and this time he was smiling much brighter than he was earlier, with teeth showing and all. Mingyu would even go as far as to say that Wonwoo had a rather silly grin on his face, and he was a bit confused, to be honest. Wonwoo seemed to have read his mind once again, but he didn’t directly answer the question Mingyu had in mind of what was with those changes facial expression.

Instead, Wonwoo continued to smile as he said, “I really like you, too…”

And that’s when Mingyu realized that this was the first time that they ever directly admitted their feelings to each other. Sure, they’ve agreed that their feelings for each other were changing. Sure, they’ve acted and flirted in ways that have easily implied that they liked each other. Sure, they’ve gone on a date and promised to go on many more. But it was a whole different ballpark to actually explicitly say that they liked each other because those words left no room for an interpretation other than the obvious.

Mingyu felt like he was on cloud nine and even ten and eleven at the moment and couldn’t help but laugh with such giddiness in his heart. Wonwoo did the same, and soon they were leaning in for a kiss with lips that were painted with smiles right until the moment their mouths touched. After they pulled away, it only took them a second or two of staring at each other until they leaned in for another kiss. And another. And another. And another.

When they were finally content with how many kisses they’ve shared (then again, Mingyu wasn’t entirely sure if that was possible), they smiled at each other once again before giving each other a hug.

“Okay, I really have to get going now,” Wonwoo said as they parted from their hug. “I’d rather die than sit in afternoon traffic.”

Mingyu laughed. “Drive safely.”

Wonwoo nodded, and sneaked in one last kiss much to Mingyu’s amusement before heading to his car.

Mingyu watched as Wonwoo backed out of his driveway, and he returned the wave that the older gave him as he got onto the street and began driving away. Mingyu expected himself to be a lot sadder than he actually was when he watched Wonwoo get further and further away until he was nowhere in sight. His change of mood definitely had to do with their confessions to each other because now Mingyu had something else to look forward to when winter break ended other than Wonwoo’s return.

Mingyu was finally, _finally_ going to ask Wonwoo to be his boyfriend.

 

Of course, Mingyu wasn’t planning to ask Wonwoo to be his boyfriend right when they saw each each other for the first time since break had ended. When Mingyu told Wonwoo he liked him, it was unplanned and had occurred so naturally, and the natural aspect of his confession was what Mingyu sought for when thinking about when and how to ask Wonwoo to be his boyfriend. Mingyu wanted to have perfect timing and wanted to ask him in a way that was more special than it was grand. And Mingyu simply thought that asking Wonwoo the moment they got back from vacation felt too abrupt for people who haven’t seen each other in three weeks.

Mingyu wanted to make special the days or weeks leading up to when he would ask Wonwoo, and he figured that going out on more dates was one of the best ways to achieve that. After their first date, they hadn’t been able to go on another one due to the timing of it all. But now that they were starting a new quarter of school, their workload was still relatively less and gave them more time to go out. 

Dates became Wonwoo and his opportunity to get to know each other more and more on a deeper level, to learn about each other’s lives--from their childhoods, to their dreams, to their fears for the future. These conversations reminded Mingyu about the first time they talked to each other and how easy it was for them to open up to each other. As they grew more comfortable in their friendship over time, they fell into a more lighthearted, banter-filled friendship as time passed and didn’t really take the time to engage in deep conversations. And Mingyu didn’t realize how much he missed such conversations until they had them.

So far, Mingyu and Wonwoo have gone on dates to theme parks and beaches, to hole-in-the-wall food places and fancy restaurants, to aquariums and museums. But despite all these out-of-town dates, Mingyu couldn’t think of a better place to ask Wonwoo out than at the park between their apartments that had witnessed their relationship blossom over the past few months. 

Coincidentally, Wonwoo had planned out a picnic at the park, and Mingyu figured that because Wonwoo was the one planning their date this time around, Wonwoo wasn’t expecting Mingyu to do anything aside from enjoy what he had in store for them that evening.

When Mingyu met up with Wonwoo shortly after sunset, Wonwoo was sitting down with his legs crossed on a white blanket and was too busy reading a book to notice Mingyu’s arrival. That was perfectly fine, though, because it gave Mingyu a few seconds to admire how peaceful Wonwoo looked in his element and surroundings. To make his presence known, Mingyu cleared his throat, which successfully caught Wonwoo’s attention.

“Oh, hey!” Wonwoo greeted, standing up from his spot on the blanket to hug Mingyu. He then took notice of the box of doughnuts that Mingyu was holding and said, “Wow, a box of doughnuts I didn’t ask for… I knew I fell for the right person.”

Mingyu chuckled as the two of them sat down next to each other on the blanket. Putting the box down near the bag that was filled with containers of food, Mingyu said, “Let’s just say I brought some to make up for that one time I ran into you and made you drop your doughnut.”

“I don’t recall dropping a dozen of them,” Wonwoo lightheartedly replied, raising an eyebrow.

“I intended to take eleven of them and just give you one,” Mingyu said, earning him a light shove on the arm. As Wonwoo began to take out the variety of food containers from the bag, Mingyu took notice of one particularly big container.

“Is part of our dinner along the lines of pasta?” Mingyu teased because Wonwoo was currently going through an i-love-pasta phase, and that’s all the older had been making for their past couple of dinner dates at his apartment. But it wasn’t like Mingyu minded because pasta was always a good choice, really.

“The term pasta is a social construct,” Wonwoo replied. “What I’ve cooked is anything you want it to be.” 

Mingyu thought the older was being serious until he looked up and saw a tiny smirk lingering on his lips. Lightheartedly rolling his eyes, Mingyu said, “Your philosophy class is getting far too into your head.”

Wonwoo laughed. “Trust me, that class is continuing to fuck with the way I look at the world,” he replied. “It’s hurting my brain in the best possible way.”

Once Wonwoo had opened all the containers from the bag and spread them out in front of them, revealing an array of fruits, side dishes, and main courses that looked very promising, he proceeded to take out a couple of candles secured in glass and lit them up with a match. As if that wasn’t enough to amaze Mingyu, Wonwoo then casually took out a bottle of wine and two wine glasses right after distributing their plates and forks.

“Okay, how did you get that?” Mingyu asked, knowing that Wonwoo was one year short of legally purchasing alcohol, though it wasn’t like he was actually rejecting the drink.

“Seungcheol forgot it at my place last quarter and never came back for it, so I figured why not be a bit fancy tonight,” Wonwoo shrugged, and Mingyu chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ve had this drink before, though, so believe me when I say it’s pretty bomb.”

The rest of the evening played out with plentiful laughter to fill the otherwise mellow park, playfully heated debates about which of two things were greater than the other (with the most heated debate being dogs versus cats), and sharing to each other the songs that they were into at the moment--to name a few. Mingyu’s particularly favorite part of the evening so far was when Wonwoo opened up the book he was reading earlier, a book that had several pages annotated from line-to-line and folded at the corners, and began to read aloud a few of his favorite passages. Maybe Mingyu was being biased, but Wonwoo read the passages in such a way that captivated him and made him want to read more of the novel.

Once they finished eating their dinner, Wonwoo wasted no time in getting a hold of the box of doughnuts and bringing it close to him. Excitedly, he began to open the box. 

“Now the moment I’ve been waiting for the whole night--” Mingyu watched as Wonwoo cut himself short once the box of doughnuts was completely open and he noticed the writing inside the box. “Okay, I was picturing another moment, one akin to me immediately stuffing my face with a glazed doughnut, but…”

Mingyu felt his heart begin to pound loudly against his rib cage as he watched Wonwoo’s eyes slowly read and reread the writing inside the box.

_Roses are not only red,_  
_I doughnut want to be with anyone else but you,_  
_Will you be my boyfriend, Jeon Wonwoo?_

When Wonwoo finished reading, he looked over at Mingyu, and any nerves that the latter had accumulated within the past minute easily disappeared the moment Wonwoo flashed his beautiful toothy smile and teasingly said,

“How could I reject a guy with such sick rhymes?”

Mingyu laughed in relief and slight embarrassment, nevertheless excited that Wonwoo and he were officiating the wonderful relationship that they’ve developed over the past few months.

“What can I say? I’m quite the charmer with my words,” Mingyu playfully replied, and Wonwoo shook his head and laughed. As the laughter subsided, the two leaned forward for a kiss that felt just as natural and just as right as any other one that they’ve shared.

 

 

“Fucking finally,” Soonyoung said from a good distance away from Mingyu and Wonwoo, putting down the binoculars he had at hand.

“It's truly an out of order love story,” Seokmin said, folding the newspaper that he was pretending to read the whole time they were spying on their friends. “Mingyu should’ve popped the question the moment they first met, I swear.”

“Now that that’s over, you guys down for some ramen across the street?” Seungkwan asked.

“I’m down.”

“Down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned that this is the last chapter, which it is, but I've also decided to post an extended version of Wonwoo's surprise visit to Mingyu's house (which includes way more details to their sex scene) because my original draft for that part was pretty much long enough to become a chapter of its own and I didn't want it to go to waste. So if you'd like to check that out, you could find it [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7928824)! Thank you so much for sticking with me from beginning to end, and I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it! ♥
> 
> I also just made a new twitter account (@potatwoo) if you'd like to follow me there and talk about seventeen/meanie/dank memes/etc. with me. Let's be pals!!


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